Cameroonian President Paul Biya addresses a campaign rally in Maroua on October 7, 2025. ROBERT FIMBAYE / AFP
Paul Biya, who has been president of Cameroon for 43 years, was sworn in for an eighth term on Thursday, November 6, after a contested election that sparked mass protests and subsequent repression, in which several demonstrators died.
The 92-year-old Biya, the world's oldest head of state, won the October 12 election with 53.7% of the vote, according to official results, against 35.2% for his main challenger, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary. He was sworn in at a ceremony in parliament in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, for a new seven-year term at the helm of the central African country.
"I will spare no effort to continue to be worthy of this trust," Biya told the gathered audience, which included local political figures but no foreign leaders. "I fully understand the gravity of the situation our country is going through. I understand the number and severity of the challenges we face and I understand the depth of frustrations and the scale of expectations," he continued.
Political standoff
